The Sand Siblings
by TheWritingChick
Summary: Getting over your fears should be easy, it's different when you fear your brother. Temari-centered.
1. Chapter 1

Temari leaned on her fan and smirks at her little brother, "Don't expect me to go easy on you, Gaara.

The sullen boy looks at her and only crosses his arms at her, "Enough of your jokes, Baki wants us to spar."

She rolls her eyes at his remark, "Sorry for starting a conversation."

"He simply stats, "Your annoying me already. Make your move."

"She opens her fan a bit and swings at him, sending a gust of wind at him. Gaara only stands there as he a sand shield is formed around. Her wind is able to knock some of the sand away, but he stands there unphased by her attack.

Gaara simply looked at her and commanded more sand to come and attack her. Temari's eyes widened as she used to fan to defend herself from the rapid sand attacks coming at her. She was too busy defending against the upfront attacks and she was unable to see the the sand coming for her feet.

The sand grabbed her feet and pulled her down on the ground, she fell down and landed on her back. More sand came in and was covering her whole body in sand.

"She started to panic, "Gaara stop. I surrender!"

The sand grew heavy and was starting to crush her. She cried out more begging him to stop as soon she found it difficult to breath.

The sand covers her whole and she is still screaming for mercy. She's crying still begging her baby brother to stop and not listen to the sick wishes of the tailed beast sealed inside of him. She's crying so much that her voice goes hoarse.

She utters a setence she thought she would never have to say in her lifetime, "Gaara stop. Your going to kill me."

Her cries are loud enough to hit him and his eyes widen. The sand goes away and he frees her from the and prison. He is only able to muster, "Sorry."

"She sits up and gasps for air. She backs away from him, fear in her eyes. She shouts, "Get away from me."

"Temari...I'm-"

She cries out as she backs far away from him, "Stay away from me."

"He walks closer to her, "Temari-"

"She shouts, "Stay away!"

"Gaara stands there frozen as she heard those words. It stung like poison at him. He is only able to look down on the ground and mutters, "I'm sorry."

The walk home was filled with silence and Kankuro looks at her and notices her sullen look. He looks at her, "Okay Gaara looking off in the distance, but what's with you?"

She snaps at him as she quickness her pace, "Nothing. Just drop it."

He catches up with her and grabs her arm, "Temari, what happened?"

She breaks free from his grip and glares at me, "Never grab me like that ever again, Kankuro. I'm fine drop it."

He looks away and mutters, "If you say so, sis."

She rolls her eyes and pushes him away as she starts walking ahead of

Kankuro looks at her for a split second and looks back at the ground as they walk back to their home. She then goes straight to her room and slides down with her back on the door and buries her head in her knees.

She sits there and cries as she is unable to feel. She clenches her fists and cries more to herself. She feels a selfish feeling as she feels more hatred for her baby brother.  
In the pit of her stomach she feels awful about the amount of hatred she feels for him. That is enough to make her cry and much more harder.

She sniffles and wipes the tear with her sleeve and goes to her bed. And cries until slumber takes her.  
 *******  
Years pass and that memory still plays in her head on repeat. Some days she even wakes up as she is unable to forget the day when Gaara was so close to ending her life.

She can never fully look at him the eyes, unable to get the death stare that he had on that fateful day. She shakes that feeling away when she sees that he is starting to change for the better

He changed so much in that time. The blonde boy clad in orange named Naruto became his friend said he understood his pain of being a Jinchurki.

Something about him saying that caused Gaara to change. She silently thanked him for that. She finally had her baby brother back and she was thankful for that.

More change even happened, Gaara was soon feared of the tailed beast trapped inside of him. When they came back home from Lady Chiyo's sacrifice. He loudly announced to her and Kankuro, "I'm going to sleep."

Kankuro turned around and looked at him, "Are you sure?"  
Gaara smiles, "For the first time in my life, I am able to sleep."

He slept for three days and more time passed and he was more open to them. Telling her and Kankuro how much he loves them and that he's sorry for everything that he's done.

"Then one day after years of the last day they sparred with each other. He asks her a question, "Temari, let's spar."

Temari stood there frozen in place. She gulped hearing the simple request that came from Gaara's mouth.

He looked at her with a frown on his face, "Temari, what's wrong? All I said is that I wanted to spar with you."

She shook the uneasy feeling off and forced a smile on her face. "Of course I would train with you Gaara. Why wouldn't I?"

He sighed aloud, "Don't humor me. You free me still, don't you?"

"She simply scoffs at his words, "No. I'll spar with you."

"Gaara frowned and hugged her. She stood there shocked at his sudden affection. He mumbles, "Please forgive me, Temari. I'm sorry, for everything."

"She smiles at him and pats his back. She gulps as she decides it's time to get over her fears, "I forgive you. Let's spar."

"Gaara pulls away with a shocked expression on his face, "Really?"

"She smirks, "Don't tell me your scared already?"

"Gaara just shakes his head, "The question is sister, are you afraid?"

She only smirks and ignores the thoughts in the back of her mind. She scoffs, "As if. Come on baby brother."


	2. Chapter 2

Years have passed since two of them spared. She was standing in that same place leaning on her fan. Gaara stood across from her with a frown on his face and his arms crossed.

Her grip on the fan tighten as she looked at her youngest brother. Memories of the last time they spared still plagued her mind. She didn't dare to look at him in the eyes. Her eyes are glued at the ground. Fearing for her life, still, after all these years.

She looked down on the ground as she took a big breathe remembering how it felt to be crushed by his sand. This fear is plaguing her mind and she needs to get over it fast.

He spoke, "Temari.."

Her eye twitched as a chill goes down her spine. She's stuck there frozen in fear as the memory is playing back into her mind.

His voice grows louder, "Temari."

His voice tore her from her thoughts and she looked up. Confused she only says, "Huh?"

He tilts his head to the side and blinks, "Are you okay?"

Her eyes widen from his question and she shakes it off. Gaara caring about her isn't something she used too. He used to find her and Kankuro annoying and a nuisance. In fact she remembered him outright telling them that one time when they were young. So hearing him show care and concern about the two them is an odd and forger in concept. Something that will take a while to get used too.

She snaps at him, "I'm fine."

He retorts back, "Then why are you looking at the ground and not at me?"

She looks up from the ground and looks him in the eyes. She snaps in an annoyed tone, "I'm looking at you right now, are you happy?"

He deadpans, "That doesn't answer my question. Are you okay?"

She exhaled sharply and nodded, "Yes." Lie. She wasn't, but she didn't want to make him worry about her. This stupid fear she had was going to pass soon, she just needed to get passed the uneasy feeling inside of her still.

Gaara sighs aloud and shakes his head, "Let's just go back home. Your still afraid of me."

She shakes her head and shoots back at him, "No I'm not, come on Gaara let's spar!"

Gaara frowns and turns away from her. She says over his shoulder, "I'm not in the mood to spar maybe later. Come back to the mansion when your done."

As he walks away from her she just stands there frustrated at herself. She takes her fan and sends a powerful wind strike. She sends it to the wall across from her and the wind is powerful to split in two.

A familiar voice joked and laughed, "Remind me to never to piss you off."

She looked behind her and saw Kankuro. She asked, "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, "I wanted to see if you actually went through and sparred with Gaara."

She looks at him and narrows her eyes, "Why, do you doubt me?"

Kankuro rolls his eyes and shrugs, "I'm just worried about you, Temari. Geez."

She puts the fan back behind her back and scoffs at him, "There's nothing to worry about, I'm fine."

He mutters, "If you say so…"

She looks at him as she could've of sworn that she heard him say something. She asks, "Did you say something?"

He sighs, "Forget it. Let's go back home then.."

When they arrive back, Gaara is nowhere to be found. Most of time since the tailed beast was extracted from him, he would often spend his days sleeping. Past the days sleeping...sounds like someone else she knows.

Kankuro shrugs, "So Gaara beat us back home, huh?"

She nods, "It would appear so."

He jokes, trying to lighten the mood, "How much do you wanna bet that he's in his room sleeping?"

The joke fails and she is still frowning, "I wouldn't be surprised if he was sleeping."

He had a lot of catch up to do since he wasn't able to sleep since the day he was born. Temari just went back to her room and locked herself in. She slid down the door crying softly. She's still afraid and its slowly eating at her.

Days passed without looking either one of her brothers in the eyes. Another day had passed and Gaara had summoned her into his office. He was sending her back to the Leaf. She sighed as she approached the village gates.

The lazy boy greated her, "Yo. Sup, Temari?"

She mumbled to herself ingnoring her words. Still lost in her own thoughts, "So this is how Gaara is going to deal with me? Just shooing me away like a fly…"

He waves a hand in her face, "Hey, earth to Temari. You alive?"

She is drawn from her thoughts and looks at him. She snaps as she sees his hand in her face. She swats it away and scoffs at him, "What?"

She sighed loudly and Shikamaru looked at her. He yawned, "You seem very troublesome today, what's wrong?"

She exhaled sharply and glared at the yawning boy. She snaps, "Nothing, let's just get this over and done with."

He groans and looks up at the sky, "You're such a drag.."

She sighs in annoyance, "I am not a drag."

He lazily shrugs, "Then tell me what's bothering you?"

She mutters in a low and soft tone, "Why do you care?"

He yawns, "Did you say something?"

She shakes her head, "No. Let's just get this over and done with."

He yawns again and starts walking and she follows and walks alongside of him. She looks up at the sky too and sighs. She has to deal with lazy ass. This was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

As they walked through the Leaf, she kept to herself. A lot of was growing through her mind and she really didn't want to deal with any sass that would come from his mouth.

Even when she was quiet and to herself, the lazy boy still found that to be troublesome..apparently. He spoke up, "No snarky remark at all today Temari, are you feeling alright?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes at his choice of words. However she refused to give in to his teasing.

He stopped his walking and turned around to face her. He rubbed the back of his head and spoke, "Listen okay, seeing you like this is a drag. Just tell me what's wrong. Okay?"

She stopped her walking and looked at him. She snapped, "Why do you care?"

He sighs, "I'm not a heartless person, I care for people. Even you."

She glares at him, "Even me?"

"Wait...that didn't come out right, let me rephrase that."

She sighs, "Too late."

He sighs and mumbles, "Women. Just when you think you understand 'em, they pull this."

She scoffs, "Has anyone told you that you talk really loud."

He looked up at her, "Huh?"

She sighs in annoyance and walks off without him. She says over her shoulder, "I can find the Hokage's office without you know, you've been my guide for three years. I know the way."

He looks at her, "What, you don't need me?"

She simply shrugs, "I'm more then snarky remarks, you know."

He frowns and soon says, "Wait Temari I'm-"

She turns around and walks off, ignoring what other words he wants to spew from his mouth. She walks towards the mansion but stops when she sees Naruto. The boy clad in orange that caused her brother's change.

He smiles and greets her in an upbeat tone, "Hey, Temari!"

She looks at him and nods as acknowledgement, "Hello."

He asks, "How's Gaara?"

She answers him, "Good. He's been sleeping most of the time. Says he has a bunch of sleep to catch up on."

Naruto grins, "That's good. Anyways, I'm going to train, see ya!"

She nods at him and walks to the Hokage's office. She does what she is supposed to do and when she exits the building, Shikamaru is standing there on the outside.

He looks at her, "Look okay, I'm sorry for what I said earlier."

She pinches the bridge of her nose in annoyance and sighs. She bluntly says, "I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now.."

He is unphased by her bluntness and looks concerned, "What's wrong?"

She looks at him and bites the inside of his cheek and debates whenever or not she should tell him what's wrong. She shakes her head and decides not too. He doesn't need to know about her family drama.

She walks passed him and mutters, "Nothing is wrong."

He grabs her arm and looks her in the eyes. He sees through her lies, "Your lying."

She shakes his grip off her and glares at him, "Never grab me like that ever again."

He lets go and just sighs, "People care about you Temari and you pushing them away is a drag."

She ignores his words, angry that he had the gaul to grab her like that. She fumes, "Don't talk to me, ever again."

He just stands there frozen and his eyes widen. He looks away with a hurt expression written on her face.

Her eyes widen in shock too, as she is surprised that those words came out of her mouth. Regarding him. She looks away and mutters, "Sorry."

Alot is on her mind, so it's best she walks to clear it. Or else she'll might do or say that something she'll regret more. She walks past him, ignoring his gaze upon her.

She walks through the village and little out of it. She finds her way at the training grounds somehow and Naruto is still there.

He stops his training and waves at her. He smiles, "Hi!"

She stops her walking and looks at him, "What are you doing?"

He smile widdens, "Training."

Her eyes widen, "Still?"

A good chunk of time had passed since the last time she saw him near the village gates. And he was still here training.

His smile drops and a unusual serious expression is on his face, "If I want to bring back Sasuke I need to be stronger."

She rolls her eyes, "What's everyone's obsession with him?"

He looks at her confused, "What do you mean? He's my best friend and…." He takes a while to add in, "Teammate."

She looks at him and stats, "He's a traitor, Naruto. He betrayed you and all of your village. He needs to be stopped."

Naruto frowns and looks off into the distance, "I won't let my bond with him to be shattered. I made a promise to Sakura that I would bring him back, and I plan on doing it."

She looks at him impressed at his determination and moxie. She can't help but to smile, "You must care for Sasuke a lot then."

He nods, "You have a bond with your brothers right?"

That was a very stupid question of him to ask. Of course she has a bond with her brothers, she's love them with all her heart. It just took until recently for them to finally not want to kill each other. Naruto speaks again, pulling her away from her thoughts.

"Well, Sasuke is like my brother and I would do anything."

Having a brother like Sasuke would be awful. You would have to worry about him trying to kill you...she understood the point he was trying to get across from her. But Gaara now is far different from Sasuke now. Comparing the two like that made her feel sick in the stomach.

"Imagine if you and Kankuro gave up on Gaara? Sasuke is kinda like that. He doesn't know that there's a world outside of pain and hatred."

She opens her mouth, "You and Gaara are more alike then anything."

He nods and counters her point in an unusual clam and serious tone, "I had people in my life that loved and cared for me, Gaara didn't. I had friends while he had none. That's why him and Sasuke are a like."

His worlds ring through her mind as she stands there frozen and at a lost of what to do. Naruto's stomach rumbles with hunger and she is pulled away from her thoughts. He looks away and his cheeks blush in embarrassment.

He nervously laughs, "Heh, guess my training made me hungry."

She nods as she goes back deep into thought. Naruto says something about getting ramen and says bye to her. She just stands there.

She's spent too much time in the Leaf. She needs to go home. Now.


	4. Chapter 4

Days passed and she was due to go back home. As she stood at the Leaf's village gates, a certain lazy boy stood there with hands in his pockets and in a lazy stature.

He walks up to her a bit and opens his mouth to say something, she stops him from saying anything and she pushes him away a bit, gently. He stands there frozen in place and shocked that she pushed him away.

She looks at him standing there as if he's blocking her from leaving. She stops her walking and crosses her arms. She says in a harsh tone, "Move."

He gulps and sighs at her, "Man, what's up with you lately?"

She ignores him, "It's time for me to go home, so move. Now."

He looks away from her with a hurt expression on his face. He mutters, "And your not even going to say goodbye to me this time? What a drag."

She rolls her eyes, "How childish. You always find things to be a drag. Try getting a new word to describe things."

He looks at her and only sighs in response, "Stop being so troublesome. It's a perfect word to describe how your acting."

She ignored her attempts to tease and banter with her. Any other day she would humor him and continue this banter. Today is a different day. She isn't a mood to deal with his constant poking and prodding at him.

"Stop this now. Just let me leave."

He frowns, "Your in a hurry to leave."

She retorts back, "And your being annoying."

He shoots back with a stern expression on her face, "You may call it annoying, I call it caring."

"Then we have different definitions of the word annoying then. Let me rephrase it for you better then. You're annoying me."

When she sees how hurt he looks in his eyes, part of her feels bad. That same part of her wants to stop this facade and try to open up with him more. But at the back of her mind she's still afraid about what he'll think when she tells him.

She's tough, that's what people think about her. So her telling him that she's still afraid of her brother would sound crazy in some eyes. In her eyes that will show weakness.

She would rather not show any weakness. Especially to him. The lazy boy that makes her feel weak at times. So she puts up a mask.

She scoffs and rolls her eyes at his comment, "Why does it matter to you? It isn't like we're dating."

"I can still care about you, Temari. Something is wrong, so can you please tell me?"

She questions him with an annoyed expression written on her face, "Why do you care so much? Your not my boyfriend, so move."

He frowns, "Like I said before, I'm not a heartless person."

She narrows her eyes and accuses him, "Are you implying that I'm heartless."

He sighs, "You're such a drag, you know. I never meant to say that."

She snaps at him, "Then what are you trying to say?"

He sighs in frustration, "Can't I just care about you without a reason?"

She looks at him, "Everything has a reason. You can't do things absentmindedly."

He shrugs and yawns aloud, "Well why not? I want to live my life with meaning and overthinking everything sounds like a drag."

"Stop saying that word."

He looks at her confused, "What word?"

She only rolls her eyes at him, "You know what word I'm talking about."

He mutters and pushes her buttons by saying the word she hates the most, "You're such a drag."

She rolls her eyes, "Honestly, if your going to keep on calling me that it's a good thing we aren't dating."

He mutters and rolls his eyes as well, "Yeah your right, it is a good thing we aren't dating. Your cold and unfeeling at times."

She raises a brow at him and asks, "Did you say something?"

He looks at her again with a scowl on his face, "Yeah your right. It's not like we're dating."

She walks passed him, ignoring his gaze upon her. She says over her shoulder, "Goodbye, Shikamaru."

He stands there in the back and rubs the back of his head. He mutters, "Goodbye, Temari."

She exhales sharply as she walks passed him and out of the village gates. She walks as she makes her how back to the Sand.

As she walks back to home and she aks Kankuro, "Where's Gaara?"

He shrugs, Your home early."

She rolls her eyes, "Just answer my question, where is he?"

He smirks and pesters her more, "What's wrong sis, did you and your boyfriend get into an argument."

Well. he was half right. They did get into an argument, at least that what she thinks. It's hard to tell with him. He speaks in that same lazy tone of his no matter what he says. It's hard to tell when he's angry or not.

And another thing is certain. He is most definitely not her boyfriend. The mere thought that her brother would think that she would date someone like him is quite insulting.

She shakes her head, "He isn't my boyfriend."

Kankuro laughs and teased her more, "Sure..whatever you say.."

She fumes out in a mixture of annoyance and anger, "Just answer my question. Kankuro."

He still laughs and smirks at her. He shrugs, "Relax. Learn to take a joke at times. He's in his office. Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to spar with him."

He raises a brow at her, "Remember how well the last time you guys went to spar. You just stood there frozen in place freaking out over the first time the two of you spared."

"This time it's going to be different."

He looks at her with a confused expression written on his face, "What's so different about today, hm?"

She looks at him and just shakes her head and she makes her way towards Gaara's office. Today was the day she was going to get over her fear.


	5. Chapter 5

She opened the door handle of his office and was ready to go inside. Kankuro's han held the door shut.

She sighed and glared at her brother, "Your in my way."

Kankuro ignored her glare and still held the door shut with his hand. He spoke, "What do you plan to prove?"

She didn't say anything to him and tried to push him away from blocking the door.

Kankuro didn't budge. He just sighed, "Gaara and I aren't kids anymore, you don't need to act tough."

She simply glared harder at him, "What's an act?"

He answers, "You acting like you have no fears. It's okay to have fears, sis. People care about you, don't push them away."

She was annoyed when she first heard those words come out of Shikamaru's mouth. So hearing that come from her own brother made her more furious at him.

She snaps, "Shikamaru said those exact words."

He shrugs and absent mindedly added, "Well maybe he's right, Temari. Don't push the people that care about you. 'Cause then you'll have nobody."

She pushed him again and Kankuro sighed as he stopped fighting her. There was no getting through to her at times. When she's determined, she's determined.

She was greeted by her brother sitting at his desk and doing paperwork. He looked up from the deskwork and and saw her.

He looked at her confused and asked, "Temari? What are you doing here?"

She asks him, "Are you busy?"

He sets his paperwork aside for the moment and looks at him, "Just paperwork at the moment but it can wait."

She didn't say anything to him and just close to him and pulled her youngest brother in a huge. Tears were slowly streaming down her face and she cried, "I'm sorry."

He sat there in his chair confused at her words. His sister rarely cried and when she did it was only when she would get upset. He hugged her back and patted her back.

He asks her in a confused tone. Temari isn't one for showing affection to people. She often keeps to herself, so something was bothering her deeply, "What are you sorry for?"

She mumbled softly as she was still crying, "For being an awful sister."

"No. If anything I should be sorry."

"For what?"

"For being an awful brother. Brothers shouldn't try to kill their older sisters."

"Gaara…"

Gaara stood up from his seat and just looked at Temari. He hugged her more and now he was starting to cry.

He said through his tears, "No. If anything I should be sorry."

She sniffled, "For?"

"All my life I wanted to be loved," he said as he pointed to kanji of love on his forehead, "I wanted to be loved so much that I even marked myself, but I would always push away the two that loved me the most."

If Gaara was trying to stop her from crying, it didn't work. Temari wanted to cry more at his word but she just started at him and listened to him talk.

"You and Kankuro are the greatest siblings anyone could ever ask for. I was awful to the both of you when we were kids."

She's touch by his words and she goes back to crying and hugs him back equally as tight and close.

"I know that you still fear me since the day that Baki made us spar."

She breaks from the hug and just looks at him. Unable of what to say, she just stands there in front of him.

"Little fears you, Temari. Your strong and a very capable. But…" his voice weakens and trails off at the last part.

She narrowed her eyes and wants him to finish. "But what?"

He sighs and wipes his tears from earlier, "You still fear me like I'm still the monster from our childhood. That pains me the most and makes me feel awful."

She wants to cry more but she stops herself, "Gaara…"

Gaara looks into her eyes and grabs her shoulders. He practically pleads, "But I'm not that monster anymore. Be happy Temari, you have your baby brother back and he plans on staying."

She cries back, "It's easier said than done. You don't have that memory ingrained in your mind."

He frowns and looks away, "If I could take all of what I did, I would in a heartbeat."

A voice says in a brash tone, "But you can't, it's called the past for a reason."

The two break from the hug and turn and see the voice is Kankuro's. He stands there with his arms crossed.

He looks at Gaara, "You can't let your past define you, Gaara. It can help shape you become but it's not you. Your in charge of your life."

Gaara smiles, "That's profound, coming from you Kankuro."

He smirks and looks at Temari. He teases as he notices her tear stained face, "And you call me emotional, sis."

She rolls her eyes and playfully punches him in the shoulder. She retorts back in an equally playful and teasing manner, "As anyone told you that it's rude to eavesdrop?"

He shrugs his shoulders with the smirk still on his face, "Yeah, you do. But that doesn't stop me."

She can't help to smile as she crosses her arms. Kankuro smiles as he pulls his two siblings in a group hug. They hug him back each with a smile back.

Gaara starts to tear up and mumbles, "Thank you. For never giving up on me."

Kankuro snorts, "If we did that then we would be doing the opposite of what mom wanted."

Gaara shoots back, "Would she get angry as Temari gets?"

Kankuro laughs a bit, "That's a good question, probably. I don't know."

She tenses up a bit when he mentions their mother. She just smiles more and hugs the two tighter. She speaks, "I love you both."

"We love you too, sis." spoke the two in unison.

Her brothers are the only family that she has left. It would be selfish of her to hate them still after they gotten so close after all these years.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a while since she last came into the Leaf. And when she finally went back to the village she waited at the village gates for the lazy boy to lazily great him. But he didn't. She stood waiting for him but he never came. She was getting annoyed and angry.

She grows angry both at him and herself. Him for stooding her up like and her. For her for getting so riled for him not greeting her. It's almost as if that she is starting to fall for the lazy boy.

She exhaled sharply as she mumbled to herself, "Get a hold of yourself Temari. Don't fall for him."

She sighed loudly as she entered the village gates and walked through the streets looking for Shikamaru. She looked and looked until she finally found him.

He was sitting on the grassy ground and leaning on the tree. When she found him she walked up to him.

She mumbled to herself in order to calm herself down from the rising anger when she saw him looking at the clouds, "He better have a good reason."

He looks down and sees her. He simply shrugs and takes a long puff from the cigarette from his mouth. She stands there shocked at his action. In the three years of her going to the Leaf, she has never seen him smoke like that.

She walks up to him and sits down in front of him and looks into his dark brown eyes. He shrugs and puts out the cigarette in the ground and she narrows her eyes at him. Expecting him to answer her, he just yawns in her face.

She looks away refusing to meet his gaze and says, "You didn't greet me at the gates, like you always do."

He says in the lazy tone of his, "Why does it matter, not like we're dating."

She scoffs, "I said I was sorry."

"Doesn't matter, troublesome woman. Those words hurt."

She sighs, "Shikamaru.."

He sighs too, "Why do you care about me so much, Temari? It's not like we're dating."

Ouch. Those words stung like a poison blade in the heart. She imagines this pain is what he felt when she first said those words to him. She shakes that feeling away and looks back at him. She doesn't say a word to him and examines what he does next.

She sees him reach into the pocket of his vest and he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He puts the cigarette in his mouth and lights with the lighter.

She looks at him deep in the eyes. Her teal eyes starting into his dark brown. Without thinking about her actions she reaches towards him and pulls the cigarette out of his mouth. She puts it out in the ground, all without breaking her stare at him.

He glares at her, "Temari-"

She cuts him and without thinking she says, "If I died would you wear a giant fan on your back?"

His glare softens and he looks away from her glare. He asks in a confused tone, "What?"

She reaches a hand to to his cheek and gently pulls him to look back at her. Her hand still on his cheek. She calmly repeats herself, "If I died would you wear a giant fan on your back?"

He answers her in a soft tone, "I don't fight with a fan, so why would I carry one around?"

She withdraws her hand from his face and pulls at the grass. She sighs, "Then why do you smoke?"

"To remember my sensei."

She bluntly said to him, "Would he want you to sulk around and smoke like a chimney?"

He sighed and leaned back on the tree. He rolled his eyes, "Lay off Temari. I'm not in the mood to deal with your troublesome self."

Her eye twitched in annoyance at his words. But still she remained calm and said, "You act of if your the only that has dealt with death before."

His eyes widen at her words and sits forward and looks at her, "I didn't-"

She glared at him. She felt something snap inside of her and she blurted out, " My father viewed my brothers and I as mere weapons and not his children, my mother died giving birth to Gaara, and you don't see me sulking around."

He looks at her with eyes widen unsure of what to react with the words she said.

She resumed her rambling, "My father was fine with having my mother die to make his sick wish of making a living weapon."

He looked at her and said her name, "Temari you can-"

She went on, feeling her face get dampt from the tears streaming down her face, "And I would hate my brother would taking my mother away, she was the only one in my life that would ever show me love and kindness."

He gulps and pulls her into his arms, hugging her tight, and keeping her close. He pats her back and whispers sweet things into her ear.

Moments passed and she's still in the hug and her crying soon stops. She pulls from the hug and gently pushes him away.

He looks at her with a concerned expression, "Are you okay?"

She sniffles as she wipes her tears. She ignores his words and starts while looking directly into his eyes,"I know how sad it can be to lose someone you care about dearly, but all your doing is making yourself worse by pushing away the people that care about you."

His hand touched hers and he holds it. He looks into her eyes, "Temari...I didn't know about-"

She blushes as his hand holds her hers and with one hand. She covers his mouth her index finger she leaned in close, and whispered to him, "Promise me you'll stop smoking okay?"

He nods. She smiles and kisses him on the cheek.

He blushed as she got so close to him and blushes even more when he felt her lips on his cheek. And he smirked a bit, "Hey Temari?"

She dropped her finger and looked at him, "What is it?"

A sly smirk crept onto his face as he kissed her lips softly and quickly pulled away. He smiles at her and says in a soft tone, "Thank you for opening up for me. It was probably a hard thing to do, but I acceparite it."

She looked away from as a blush grew on her face. She touched her lips and laughed a bit, "Like I care, remember we aren't dating."

He sighed, "So let's change that"

She looked back at him, blushing a deeper shade of red, "What?"

He smiles and looks up at the clouds, " Wanna go out on a date?"

She blushed harder and looked at him. She can't help but to smile and nods, "Of course, lazy ass."

He sighs, "I asked you out on a date and you call me a lazy ass? What a drag you are."

She laughs and smiles and so does he. She feels so happy around him. So happy and at ease, for once in her life.

The next couple of days are a blur to her. Everything happened so fast and she felt as if she blinked and she found back at the village gates with him kissing her goodbye.

She smiles and hugs him. He hugs her back and whispered in her ear, "Why can't you stay?"

She pulls back from the hug and rolls her eyes, "Maybe next time, but not now."

He yawns, "Will you at least come back?"

She laughs, "I always do."

He smirks, "Good. Well, see you next time. Trouble."

She frowns and pretends to pout, "After all this, I'm still troublesome?"

He simply shrugs at her words, "Correction. I called you trouble not troublesome."

She deadpans, "Is there a difference?"

He laughs, "Well of course. Trouble is a nickname that I gave him and troublesome is how you act at times."

She smiled at him some more and crossed her arms. She rolled her eyes at him, "Trouble and troublesome still sound like there the same thing."

He shrugs his shoulders and yawns, "You're such a drag, Temari."

She smirks, "And you're my idiot, Shikamaru."

"You should get back home then. Don't Gaara to assemble a search party for you, do you?"

She nods along with his words and remarks, "Well my brothers and I just recently started to get along with each other. I don't think it would be wise to test their limits."

He nods and smiles at her, "Right. So, see you soon. Trouble."

She scoffs at the nickmane she is given by him and just rolls her eyes. She turns around and makes her way back home.

She finds her way back home and she goes to her room and falls asleep on her bed. She falls asleep with a content smile on her face.

Morning comes and she is rudely awoken by someone poking her sides. She opens an eye and sees Kankuro's grinning face as he waves at her.

Sleepy and groggy she says, "Kankuro?"

He grins and speaks, "I know your secret."

Her eyes open wide open, "What?"

"You know the one."

"I'm sorry. Please rephrase that, I'm afraid I don't speak idiot."

Her brother sits on her bed and laughs a bit. She lays on her back looks at the ceiling. She rubs her eyes to wake herself up some more. She sighs, "What are you doing in my room?"

Kankuro smirks, "Ah man sis, guess what a little birdie just told me."

She sits up and glares at her brother, "Little birdie?"

"Well it wasn't really a birdie. It was more of a fox and he was talking to Gaara, not me."

She sits up a bit snaps, "Kankuro, what did I tell you about eavesdropping?"

He smirks, "How many times will it take you to learn, sis? I don't listen."

She sighs, "Did you come into my room and woke me up just to annoy and peser me?"

"When you put it like that way...yes I did!'

She sighs in annoyance as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

He laughs some more and smirks. He teases, "So you and shadow boy, huh?"

She scoffs, "What about it?"

He shrugs, "Just making conversation geez Temari, chill out."

She sighs and rubs her eyes again, "Dealing with you is exhausting at times."

She huffs and lays back on the bed. Her head being buried by her hands trying to hide her blush. She shoots back "At least I have a lovelife, brother."

Kankuro fell down on her bed and grabbed his shoulder pretending to be hurt. He laughs, "Ouch, you've wounded me with those words."

She giggles a bit and resumes teasing her younger brother, "Its true. Lose the makeup and the dolls and maybe you'll find yourself a girl."

He frowns and glares at her, "I told you a thousand times. It's not makeup, it's war paint."

She grins and laughs, "Then loose the dolls."

"They're not dolls! They're puppets!"

She laughs a bit louder this time, "Someone is getting defensive!"

"You say dealing with me is exhausting at times? Dealing with you is annoying at times."

She yawns a bit, "Are you done harassing me?"

"No. I have more teasing to do."

She sighs loudly and turns on her on her side and pulls the covers over her head.

Kankuro stops his laughing and asks in a serious tone, "Do you love him?"

She lays back on her back and raises a brow at his question. Confused, she asks, "Why do you ask?"

He shrugs as he looks at the ceiling of her room, "Brothers are suppose to look out for their sisters. So. Do you love him."

She pulls the covers down and she looks at the ceiling of her room as well. She nods and answers him, "I think so."


	7. Chapter 7

When she arrives back home in the Sand, Kankuro asks her to spar with him. She sighs and recunctly says yes.

Kankuro smirks, "Are you really sure you want to spar sis? You'll lose."

She sighs in annoyance and rolls her eyes, "You're the one who asked. Kanker Sore."

The smirk is wiped off from his face and he glares at her, "Aw come one, I thought you outgrew calling me that!"

She smirks and pokes his cheek, "Guess I didn't."

He rolls his eyes and swats her hand away. He mutters out, "Whatever. Tem Tem."

Her smirk is replaced with a scowl, "What did you just call me?"

He shrugs his shoulders and grins, "Nothing. Mari."

She crosses her arms and glares at him. Gaara just sighs as he watches his sibling's antics. "If your going to kill him Temari, please do it outside."

Kankuro frowns, "Don't encourage her!"

She look at Gaara and said in a sarcastic tone, "Can I? Can I really?"

Gaara deadpans wanting his two older siblings to stop whatever their doing, "You have my permission."

She smirks and looks back at her brother, "Well you heard Lord Kazekage. I have permission to kill you."

He rolls his eyes and scoffs, "You have to get to me to kill me."

She sighs and pulls him by the arm and drags him outside. Kankuro cackles like a hyena at the annoyed expression written on her face. He knew too well on how to push her buttons. She doesn't know what is annoying her the most. The laugh he's doing on purpose or what he called her. She came to the conclusion that Kankuro in general just annoys her.

He laughs, "You're going to lose!"

She sighs, "Shut up."

She never liked sparing against. Him and his stupid puppets and his snide remarks.

And people say she's cocky and has an attitude problem.

She remembers when they were young and he was first learning his art. He uses his chakra strings on her and use her as his own puppet.

He would make her himself and he would laugh and tease her. Saying on repeat, "Why are you hitting yourself?"

She wanted to punch him so badly when they were kids. Well, still in reality she would still want to punch for the stuff she does.

In the midst of their sparing, she hears something snap. That draws her way from her thoughts and her eyes widen.

She looks at her fan and gasps in horror. One of the stick that held the cloth of her fan together snapped.

She screamed and fell down to the ground. Kankuro stops what he is doing and running to his sister with a concern look on his face.

She holds the broken fan in her hands and she cries. Tears streaming down her face as the fan she had since she was young had just broken.

One of the few happy memories of her childhood was when she was given a tiny fan by her mother. She would say it looked cute and pinched her cheeks.

She still has the tiny fan with the three moons and the first time she had ever used her wind release jutsu was on Kakuro. He was annoying her and she had enough.

He had pulled on her pigtails for the last time and she opened her fan and a gust of wind was summoned which caused him to go flying. She laughed and her mother scowled. She frowned and her mother scolded her and said that was uncalled for. She was the oldest one and that she should protect her younger brother, not be mean to him.

Her father on the other hand smirked a bit and mumbled something. To be honest, she doesn't remember the look on his face. She tries to block out her father.

Maybe it was a smirk or maybe it was a smile. And maybe he mumbled that he was impressed with her. She doesn't remember and to be honest she doesn't really care.

When her mother was pregnant with Gaara, she got a much bigger fan for her birthday. And thus began the gruelling training from hell that she would go through.

Kankuro runs to her and notices the tears streaming down her face and her zoning out. He has never seen her like this and he is concerned. He shakes her and says her name, trying to get her to snap out of it.

One of the few things she has that reminds her of her mother is that fan. And she was careless and broke it. She hated herself and wanted to cry.

Kankuro shakes her harder, "Temari?"

She looks at him, "Huh?"

He frowns, "You fell down to the ground, are you okay?"

She cried looks away from him, mumbling, "No."

He looks at her with a concerned expression on his face, "What's wrong?"

She only cries more and hugs her brother. She cries loudly and buried her head in his chest. The broken fan falls down on the floor and Kankuro's eyes widen. When the fan made contact with, the strings held the sticks and cloth together began udone.

Temari cried harder as she heard the sound and hugged her brother tighter.

He blurts out and without thinking he says, "Your fan is broken."

She mocks and cries much harder now, "Aren't you a genius."

The last time he saw her cry as much as she was doing was when their mother died. Recently, she's tearing up here and there when it came to Gaara. But never like this. She's bawling her eyes out and hugging him.

He hugs her sister back and pats her back. He mumbles out, "Temari, stop crying."

"I can't."

He asks as he tries not to cry, seeing her cry. His voice cracks a bit, "Why?"

She doesn't listen and cries out, "I broke the fan that mom gave me. I broke the last one she gave me. Before she died."

He frowns more wipes his tears with his sleeve. He tries to brighten the mood, "Well. That wasn't the first fan that mom gave you."

She shouts at him and spits out in a anger, "Shut up. Not now."

"I'm sorry."

She pulls away from the hug and pushes him away from her. She wipes her tears and looks the other way.

Kankuro frowns and looks away. He mumbles, "Temari, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that."

She scoffs ignoring his apology. She's still annoyed at her younger brother's idiotic comment. She just simply stats, "You're and idiot."

He sighs in response at her words, "Everyone is an idiot according to you, Temari."

She narrows her eyes at him. She fumes out in anger, "Not. Now."

"Sorry for trying to make you laugh."

She huffs out, "Just shut up for once."

Kankuro gulps in response. She's not in the mood for his snarky remarks. If he values living he would know well by now not to utter another word from his mouth.

She looks at the fully broken fan on the ground and frowns.

He blurts out, "I can fix it."

She scoffs in response, "You'll just break it more."

He sighs, getting annoyed with her attitude, "Its already broken. I can't make it even more broken."

She bluntly says, "You'll find a way."

His eye twitches a bit at her remarks. He blurts out, without thinking, and says what's on his mind, "You're just like dad."

She angrily shouts at him back, That man is far from being our father, I am nothing like him. You take that back."

He shouts out her, angrily, "Then stop acting like him."

She glares a thim and still shouts him, "The fan is already broken, I don't want you to break it anymore."

"Dad would always doubt me like what your doing right now. He would focus all his attention on you when it came to training and call my puppets toys. He even looked impressed when you sent me flying with that fan and called me a child when I used the chakra strings on you."

Her eyes widen at his words and puts a hand on his shoulder, "Kankuro.."

He resumes. His voice cracking as tears are streaming down his face, "He even paid attention to Gaara. Even after he would tell us on how much a monster he is. All because I couldn't use the stupid sand."

She just sits there. Shocked at his sudden outburst.

"Don't sit there all shocked, Temari. Even you paid more attention to Gaara. My own sister forgot about her other brother."

She says in a soft tone and ignores the second comment, "Gaara needed attention and to be reminded that he's loved."

He huffs out, "So did I."

"Are you jealous?"

He just looks at the broken fan on the ground and murmurs out, "Maybe. I don't know. But I'm fixing your fan."

"I'm not stopping you."

He grunts in response and grabs the sprawled out broken fan on the ground. He stands up and starts walking back home. He says over the shoulder, "Come back to the mansion when you lose the tude, Temari."

She just sits there on the ground and sighs. She sighs at the broken mess that she has for a family. A broken mess that man that has been dead for so long frist broke.

***  
She lays on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The door opens and Kankuro walks in and she hears a loud thud.

She sits up from the bed and sees his usual smirk as he leans on her closed fan. She walks to him.

He hands her the fan with the smirk still on his face, "Your welcome, by the way."

She takes the fan and puts it on her bed.

He rolls his eyes, "Pfft. Okay then. Don't thank me, rude."

She doesn't say anything and hugs her younger brother. She rests her head on his shoulder and says, "Thank you."

His eyes widen at first at the sudden hug. Moments passed and he hugged her back. He patted her back, "I was kidding when I said that you should thank me, by the way."

"And you made such a big deal about me not thanking you. How annoying."

He shrugs and resumes, "You practically raised us, it's about time we repaid you."

She sighs in annoyance, "I don't need to be repaid. I'm your sister."

He smiles, "The best."

"That's debatable."

Kankuro goes on, "No. If there was competition, pretty sure you'll win."

She feels her face get hot and looks at him, "Stop it. Your making me blush."

He ignored her and went on, "You're more than a sister you know. Your motherly and sweet at times. You'll make a great mom."

She crosses her arms and looks away from him, "No I won't. Don't lie."

"Yes you will. Sometimes when I close my eyes trying to remember mom, I see you."

She scowled at him, "Stop."

"I think that's what Gaara sees. You should ask him."

"How dare you."

He looks at her confused, "What?"

"How could you forget about her so easily?"

He just stands there confused at her sudden outburst and he is unable to respond.

She feels herself getting angry. Forgetting about their mother like its nothing. She turns away from him. "Get out of my room."

"Even when I say something nice about you, you're a meanie."

She snaps at him, "Grow up."

He shakes his head and leaves her room. She feels herself getting angry. That her brothers could just forget about her mother so easily like that. It's almost insulting to her. And that Kankuro says she'll make a great mom.

She's afraid of another thing as well. Having children. She's amazed that Shikamaru can tolerate her and the thought of being a mother is too much for her.

They say that having a children is a chance to amend for the mistakes that you made in your life by raising them as you weren't. The problem is that she has made so many in her life already.


	8. Chapter 8

When she goes back to Leaf it isn't to deliver a message from Gaara or for a mission. She goes to visit the lazy boy. She doesn't tell her brother and sneaks off into the night to see him.

She hasn't told them about her and Shikamaru yet. She's trying to find the right time and sighs loudly to herself as she reaches the village gates.

She bites the inside of her cheek as he greets her. He frowns and asks, "Hey, what's wrong?"

She blinks and looks at him, "Nothing."

He sighs and looks away from. He stretches his arms and yawns loudly, "Whatever."

She narrows her eyes and snaps at him, "Don't whatever me."

He smirks a bit and snickers, "Whatever."

She crosses her arms at him and glares at him.

He laughs, "Heh. You know Temari, it took me a while to realize this but, you're cute when you get all angry."

"Shut up, idiot."

He laughs more and smiles, "Don't be like, trouble."

She glares daggers at him and raises a brow, "Be like what?"

He's only shrugging and looks up at the sky, "What did I do now, troublesome woman?"

She rolls her eyes and rests a hand on her hip, "You're the one who's lying. I'm not cute."

He yawns in response and goes back to smirking when he's done, "Yeah your right. You're adorable. Is that better?"

"Shikamaru."

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

He smirks, "What's wrong, trouble?"

Her face felt hot and a blush of crimson was on her face. She looks away from him and scowls. He laughs a bit and gets close to her. He grabs her hand and pulls her into the village. She smiles as he drags her through the Leaf village.

What happens next is kinda a blur. They went out to a restaurant to eat and afterward they were walking outside through the village streets.

Night came and the lazy boy yawns, "It's late. I should walk you to where you're staying."

She smiles at him, "Well, aren't you the gentlemen."

He shrugs and lazily smirks at her, "I try."

When they arrive at the hotel that she's staying at, and when he walks to her to her room. He kisses her on the lips.

She kisses him and he kisses her some more. That kiss led to another and another one. She asked him if he wanted to spend the night, he said yes and kissed her. What happened next was a blur.

She's asleep now and she stirs in her sleep. Her tossing and turning wake the lazy boy up and he notices her tossing and turning. He pulls her into a hug and keeps her close as he closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.

She mutters something in her sleep and he only hugs her tighter and closes his eyes as he falls back to sleep.

A simple hug isn't going to help her out of this nightmare. She's having that dream again. She still has the memory of Gaara sealed in her mind. The day when her brother almost ended her life.

In her dream, everything feels so real. And when Gaara's sand grabs her body she wants to scream.

The sand's hold on her body gets tighter and the sand feels so heavy. She screams out her brother's name in hopes to free him from Shukaku's will.

A sentence utters from her mouth, something she thought she would never have to say in her life, "Gaara stop. You're going to kill me."

Her brother only smirks. Fully under Shukaku's control now. "Good."

She shouts, trying to get him back from the demon, "Gaara."

"He's gone. I've taken over now."

What happens next isn't reality. Her screams knocked Gaara back into his senses and the crushing weight of the sand went away. She wasn't being buried alive and the sand's tight grip wasn't at her neck choking her.

She feels the weight of the crushing sand and she is unable to breathe. Her eyes open and she is still being held tightly by Shikamaru's arms.

She screams, unaware that she was not dreaming anymore. She pushes him off of her with great force and shouts, "Get off of me."

Her eyes widen as she hears a loud thud and a groan of pain. She sits up on the bed and sees the lazy boy now laying on the floor.

He sits up a bit and rubs his head in pain. He looks at her with a scowl on his face. "Temari, what the-"

She looks away and starts to cry, "I'm sorry."

He sits on the bed and frowns. He looks at her and puts a hand on her cheek and turns her head to face him. She tries to push him away, but he only pulls her into a tight hug.

She buries her head in his chest and just doesn't say a word. She just cries.

He hugs her tighter in response and runs a hand through her hair. He kisses her head and mutters something barely audible. She doesn't know for sure what he says, but she's pretty sure she heard the words; "I love you" utter from his mouth. That only wants to make her cry even more.

She is harsh and coarse like sand and he is the opposite. She doesn't feel worthy of his love. The way that he isn't angry at her for pushing him off the bed. He's only hugging her and not saying anything as she is crying her eyes out.

She soon stops crying and pulls from the hug. She looks at him says, "Gaara tried killing me once."

He doesn't say anything and just looks at her.

She resumes as she sniffles and wipes her eyes, "We were sparing and Shukaku took over."

He nods.

"The only thing that saved me from death was me screaming at him to stop."

He gulps.

Her voice softens and she pales, "I still have nightmares of that day."

He hugs her and mutters, "But those days are over. You don't have to be afraid anymore Temari."

"And why is that?"

He answers, "Because I'm here."

She is frozen by his words.

"Don't be trapped in the past. Just focus on the future."

She mutters and buries her head in his chest, "That's easier said than done."

"Well, you don't have to be afraid anymore. I'm here to protect you and I don't plan on leaving you."

She only turns her head and she hears his heart beating. She is staring off into space.

He yawns loudly and he closes his eyes. Moments passed and she hears him snoring softly. She only blinks, afraid to fall back to sleep.

So far in her life, he's the only one that was never afraid of her. And he's the only she has ever opened up too. Told him about her childhood a bit and about Gaara when they were young. Like she trusts him like she feels happy with him like she feels safe with him, and like she feels loved. Maybe she loves him too.

She turns her head and adjusts her body as she's staring at the ceiling. She blinks, as she wonders what she did in life to deserve someone like him in her life.

She hasn't slept since that day. When the time comes and when her brothers are asleep she goes to the top of the mansion and looks up at the sky. Stars are prettier to look at the clouds.

As night comes and her brothers go off to bed. She does what she's been doing for the past couple of weeks. Go to her and wait for when her brothers are asleep and then goes to the top of the mansion and looks at the night sky.

As she opens the door to her room and closes it behind her, she is greeted by Gaara and Kankuro. Kankuro sits on her bed fanning himself with one of her miniature fans and Gaara is standing and staring at her with his arms crossed.

Pale green staring into teal. He speaks first, "We aren't idiots Temari. You can't hide from us."

"I'm not hiding anything."

Kankuro stands from her bed still fanning himself, "Those bags under your eyes are getting worse then Gaara's."

She glares at him.

Gaara only shakes his head and sighs, "We know about you and Shikamaru and the fact that you aren't sleeping."

Kankuro nods, "We don't really care what you do with shadow boy, but you not sleeping is kinda a big deal."

She scowls at glares at Gaara, "You're one to talk. You went you all life without sleeping."

Gaara only looks at her. His tone is calm and his stare is intense, "I didn't really have a choice in the matter, but you do."

She looks away and mutters, "I can't sleep. Guess insomnia runs in the family."

Kankuro snickers, "Then I must be adopted, 'because I love sleeping."

Gaara glares at him, "Now isn't the time to joke."

She snaps at the both of them, "Get out of my room."

Gaara gets closer to her and reaches out a hand to her. Her eyes widen and she backs up. She shouts, "Get away from me."

He gets closer to and reaches out to hug her. He mutters, "Temari."

Her back hits the door. She winces and cowers in fear, "Don't touch me."

He stops and looks at her. He then looks down at the ground and sighs, "I'm not that Gaara anymore. I've changed."

She looks down at the ground again too, not saying anything.

Gaara looks up from the ground and walks closer to her and pulls her into a hug. Kankuro gets closer to them too and hugs them Temari too.

She sighs in annoyance, "What are you doing?"

Kankuro grins, "Hugging you like how you and I used to hug Gaara when we were kids."

Gaara nods along to his words, "You spent so much time reminding me of how much you two loved me. It's time I remind you how much I love you."

As she is being hugged by her brothers she yawns loudly. She mutters against her breath, "I'm tired."

Kankuro snorts and laughs a bit at her words. He grins, "See look, you even sound like him too."

She sighs, "Shut up."

Gaara sighs in response to her words, "Then go to sleep. You're the only one stopping yourself."

She sighs, "I'm too afraid too."

Kankuro gulps, "Well you don't need to be afraid anymore. We're here for you, Temari. So you don't have to afraid anymore."

Gaara hugs her tighter and mutters, "It's our turn to protect you."

Kankuro nods, "Yeah, just because you're our older sister doesn't mean you get to have all the fun. We'll keep you safe now."

She doesn't say as she closes her eyes as her brothers hug her. She blinks several times as she feels her eyes grow heavy. She then closes them and doesn't open them back up. Moments passed and slumber took her.

She's dreaming a much more pleasant dream. She and her brothers are children and they are sitting in the living room. Gaara is on the floor playing with his sand, Kankuro with her puppets, and she is sitting on the couch in between her parents.

Her parents look at her and smile. They look happy, something she has never seen in her life. Her brother stands up and sits on the couch her wither her. Their parents laugh and hug the three.

In her dream, they look like a family. A loving family. Something she wished she had. She opens her eyes and she notices that she's laying on her bed now.

She stretches a bit and blinks open her eyes as she stares at the ceiling. She then decides from the moment onward. If she ever has kids then she's going to have kids then she is going to be the opposite of her parents. She'll make sure that her kids are loved. Something that she never had growing up.


End file.
